Friday, February 18, 2011

Four Continents Update


Voir withdrew from the free dance mid-way through after Tessa supposedly felt stiffness in her thigh.  That is curious, as everyone looks at her shin when she skates over to Marina and Igor.  If you've read their book, you need to wonder if her shins are more of a problem than they are letting on.  It is such a shame, as their free dance is absolutely great (what we've seen thus far.)

Men's Short Results

The other few videos available from Four Continents are after the jump!









18 comments:

  1. She also seems to stumble right away her twizzle; there was some sort of awkward moment before they went on with the dance. At that point watching it live I had a feeling something was not right...

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  2. *right after her twizzle

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  3. My heart is broken at the moment. I hope Tessa feels better soon and is ready for Worlds. That FD looks awesome.

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  4. I have a love-hate relationship with Voir (love them as athletes, hate the seeming/blatant cockiness). I was a bit shocked to find out that they'd be competing after surgery within the months that have passed. I just hope they focus on getting as healthy as possible.

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  5. I feel so bad for them right now. This FD seems to be fantastic. I hope she'll be okay.

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  6. I don't think V/M's FD looks all that great. It's certainly difficult, but I Tessa doesn't appear to have the range for it as a performer (Scott does). I do applaud them for trying something different, and hope whatever led to their withdrawal from 4CC isn't too serious.

    Yuzuru Hanyu is so good. I hope he can improve his stamina for future LPs, because he is really special. Meanwhile, Takahashi's hair is getting out of control; no amount of product in the world would be enough to sort that out.

    I wonder if the Shibs will end up doing to D/W what Meryl and Charlie did to B/A. Maia and Alex have more natural talent IMO, and their progress this year has been scary fast. I can see them going into Sochi as the top Americans.

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  7. interesting commento n davis/white vs shibutanis.
    Voir trying something new....meh...not a fan as of now. cool twizzle approach though...

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  8. Sad for Tess and Scott but not *too* sad as I was rooting for Meryl and Charlie to beat 'em. That said, I was looking at the judges sheets for the short dance and wow, Uncle Dick is right about needing more transparency. While most judges were giving Voir high 7s, 8s and a few 9s, one was giving them low to mid 5s. Kinda outside the range--you have to hop down to the 8th place team to find similar scores. And one element of Meryl and Charlies was graded somewhere between a -1 and a +2. So which was it?

    I am calling shenanigans!

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  9. Yeah, I agree with @8:47, I think that twizzle approach is stellar. I really applaud Marina & Igor for what they have done with ice dance - and, likewise, the amazing talent (Marlie, Voir - and now the Shibutanis with their awesome FD) who have been able to create their visions. It is quickly becoming my favorite discipline.

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  10. Takahashi and Abbott were fantastic. Kozuka was really off. The Canadian pairs really delivered. It was a fun day (or should I say night) of skating! I feel terrible for all the Mac users who have not gotten to see anything! The feed everyone else is using is absolutely wonderful. Only had it buffer on me once the whole night.

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  11. Wow, the Shibutanis are really rocking it with that free dance. In the future it will probably get harder to them to create programs, but for now, wow.

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  12. Why would it be hard for the Shibs to create programs? because they're siblings and can't do romantic/passionate stuff? There are so many other possibilities, and sibling teams like the Zars and the Kerrs have managed to come up with good ideas over the years. Non-sibling teams, too: DelSchoes had quite a few programs that were conceptual rather than romantic, as have P/B and F/S.

    I think Zoueva is smart enough not to try to fit all her teams into the same mold.

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  13. Isn't the compulsory dance part of the SD a rumba next year? That could definitely present some problems. I think the Shibs are suuuper talented, so they'll be able to navigate it pretty well, but they will be limited in what they're able to portray. They won't have the freedom of expression that Marlie and Voir have. As they get older, it'll be harder for them to come up with strong programs. It won't necessarily hinder them, I don't think, but it's definitely going to be a challenge in the future.

    For this reason, I think Davis & White have a bit of a buffer wrt the Shibutanis. They have greater capacity for range and are actively seeking to make themselves more versatile (see: tango). The Shibutanis skating skills probably won't *exceed* Meryl and Charlie's (they will most definitely reach that level, though, based on their phenomenal development just since turning senior), so it'll remain extremely close heading into Sochi. Shibs have the youthful thing happening, but... well, it'll be interesting. It's an exciting time for ice dance in the United States. :)

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  14. It will be hard to come up with programs for the Shibs because they will creep us out booty dancing.

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  15. The feed started working for me right as Jeremy was doing his step sequence. I saw his combination and his 3axel on the replay but didn't see his solo jump. Was he off on it? He didn't look too pleased after he finished, but that's becoming par for the course with Jeremy these days...

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  16. The Shibs do have flow and line comprable to Voir already. True, they may not be able to show much variation but when was the last time judges really rewarded that? Voir could do soft romantic dances every year and still get top marks. Its what you do and how you do it, not how often you change what you do.

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  17. That was the best Daisuke has skated all season! That program was on fire!

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  18. Anon 1:14, if the Shibutanis want a change of style, there are options other than booty dancing. I'll refer again to the Kerrs because they're a successful sibling team who've had a long career; their programs have been all over the place in terms of style - Matrix, Space aliens, Muse, the Scottish OD, etc.

    I don't think the Shibs are similar to the Kerrs stylistically, but surely they are capable of some range in their choreo? I guess we'll find out eventually.

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